Hongjoong had to suppress a shudder when King San stepped out of his carriage. His eyes had found the captives right away and the look he gave them had the captain regretting his decision almost immediately.

"Right on time, Captain. Thank you for your assistance. And I'm getting two for the price of one." The king said coolly, pulling out a large bag of gold and dropped it in the captain's hands.

"And the other thing we talked about?" Hongjoong said, trying to keep his voice calm.

King San just waved his hand and walked by.

Yunho gave Hongjoong a questioning look as he stepped to the side, leaving the captives standing by themselves.

The princess had yet to wake up from healing Yunho. The boy looked like he'd rather die...

.

.

.

.

San could feel his pleasure bubbling inside him. Seeing his favorite toy was unexpected but made this deal he had made with the pirates even better.

With a few long strides, he was standing in front of the shaking boy. He locked eyes with him for a long moment, then looked down at the princess.

"What did you do to her?" San growled, turning to face the captain. A wave of heat pulsed from him.

"There was an accident on the ship. My first mate was injured, and she healed him. According to the boy she is recovering from having to use her gift." The captain said, stepping forward.

"Is this true?" San purred, turning back to Wooyoung. He nodded quickly and tightened his grip on the princess. San smirked and lifted a hand to brush his cheek. "Well then, shall we go home?" He saw all the color drain from the other's face and chuckled.

He snapped his fingers and one of his guards came running forward. "Yes, Your Majesty?"

"Jongho, go into town and procure me another carriage for the princess. She needs space to lay down. I don't want to... disturb her." He said, licking his lips and not taking his eyes off Wooyoung.

"Right away." The man bowed and made his way into town.

"You may go now." San said, turning to face the captain. When he saw him open his mouth to speak, San held up a hand to cut him off. "Yes, yes. I know. I will take care of it, but unfortunately, it's not something I have the ability to do right now. You'll have to be patient." He turned back to Wooyoung and placed a hand on the small of his back to guide him to the carriage.

He could feel the pirates shifting behind him, but he didn't look back.

.

.

.

.

Wooyoung knew there was no getting away. All he could hope for was Yunho would do as he asked and alert Yeosang.

The feeling of the king's hand on his back made his skin crawl.

It wasn't long until Jongho returned with a second carriage. By then the pirates were gone.

"Jongho, take the princess in your carriage and watch over her. Keep her secured, I'm sure she will be scared when she wakes." King San said.

"N-no, please." Wooyoung said, stepping back from the approaching guard.

"Now, now, Youngie." The king hissed. "You know I won't harm her."

Wooyoung still fought as the guard tore her from his arms. He reached for her and tried to follow but the king pinned him to the side of the carriage. "You're just going to make this worse for yourself."

He watched as the Jongho carefully placed Kita into the other carriage, then let his head drop in defeat. "Yes, Your Majesty..." He whispered.

He felt the king's hand on his chin, lifting it up to look at him. His eyes were cold. "I told you to call me San. Now, get in."

Wooyoung obeyed, San followed close behind him.

As soon as the door closed, San pulled the curtains shut then moved to straddle the performer, immediately running his hands through his hair. "I was so surprised to see you today. Although I should have guessed it was you who tried to steal my bride away from me." He yanked Wooyoung's head back, exposing his throat and causing him to whimper.

Wooyoung clenched his fists, hating this feeling. He was completely helpless. He squeezed his eyes shut when San started kissing and biting his neck. He was sure there would be marks there later.

"Why are you resisting me?" He breathed into the performer's neck, then used the hand gripping his hair to make him look at him. "You know you love this." San brought his lips down and claimed Wooyoung's mouth. When he wouldn't kiss back, San moved his hips forward, causing the performer to gasp and allowing him to plunge his tongue deep into his mouth.

Doing his best to fight back his tears, Wooyoung gave in, knowing San would hurt him more if he resisted. Or worse, he could hurt Kita.

This was going to be a long trip...

---

"I don't like this. The way he looked at them... Captain..." Yunho said. He and Hongjoong were sitting in the captain's cabin. When he didn't get any response, he stood abruptly and stormed from the room.

He remembered what Wooyoung had told him and ran to where they had stored their packs. Rummaging through them, he found the mirror he had spoken of. But it looked like an ordinary mirror. He stared at himself for a long moment, then tilted his head when the image started to blur.

Then he was staring at a wide-eyed, brown-haired man.

"Who are you?" The man asked suddenly. He looked scared, and like he wanted to ask more but was afraid to.

"Um... My name is Yunho. I... What is this thing?" He said, turning the mirror around. He had never seen anything like this before.

"Hey! Turn it back around before we lose connection." The other man called.

Yunho did, his mouth opening slightly.

"Where are the people I gave this mirror to?" The other's face turned harsh. "Where are they?" He roared.

Feeling shame was over him again, Yunho looked down. "They've... They're gone."

"What do you mean, gone?"

As Yunho was about to explain, he heard a faint call of, "Yeosang? Is that them?" Another man ran into view and Yunho immediately recognized him as the crown prince of Twilight. "Who the hell are you?" He said, his face set in a glare.

"Your Highness," Yunho bowed his head, not wanting to be rude. "I... I'm so sorry... your sister, she's with King San."

"No..." The prince breathed, falling to his knees. Yeosang placed a hand on the prince's shoulders.

"Explain." He said, his eyes narrowing.

Yunho took a deep breath and told them about how the captain had been paid to capture the princess, that's why they had originally attacked the castle, although that was really just a set up for the king to 'save' the palace. "He wasn't supposed to kill any of our men though. I tried to get my captain to abandon the task after that, but... I think the king has something on him." He then went on to explain that when they saw a torch lit on the side of the cliff, they knew the princess had tried to run away and all they had to do was wait to ambush them.

.

.

.

.

Yeosang watched as the pirate started to cry when he told them what Kita had done for him. He could see the regret on his face at having to turn them over. There was an internal conflict he was struggling with. His personal morals and his loyalty to his captain. Yeosang gazed down and the prince and understood the feeling.

"Can you convince your captain to sail back here?" He asked when the pirate had calmed down a little bit.

"I'm not sure... But I can try. I don't think he likes the situation either, but like I said, there was something more he wanted from the king that he didn't get today." Yunho glanced at the door. "I don't know how much longer I can stay here; we are getting ready to set sail."

"That's fine. Keep this mirror close though and protect it. It took a lot of my magic to make it, and it's the only way we can communicate. It will only work if we are both in front of our mirrors, but I am in this room most of the day."

Yunho nodded. "Thank you for not hating me." He said quietly before covering the mirror with a piece of cloth, cutting off the connection.

Yeosang sighed, then sat down next to Seonghwa, waiting for him to say something. He grabbed the prince's hand and let his thumb move back and forth.

"She's with him... We tried to get her out of here and he still got her."

"It sounds like the king expected something like that. We... I, underestimated him." Yeosang said, looking at the floor.

"I must go tell Father." Seonghwa stood quickly, pulling the wizard up with him. "Kita running away was my idea, ok? And I forced you to help with preparations."

"What? No, I won't let you take the blame for this." Yeosang squeezed the prince's hand. "We are in this together."

Seonghwa smiled and leaned down to kiss the younger before they left the room together, letting go of each other's hand as they passed through the door.